Ephemeral Feasthouse ~ Transient Observations by Storymaker DaveO

Building A Global Community Around Your Brand

Recently HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes shared an article on Linkedin, which shared much of the community building work I’ve headed up during my time at HootSuite. In this, he shared the basic tactics and nuggets of wisdom gleaned from using commuity building methods for growing from 100K to 5.7 million users in a short period of time. Keep in mind, we use these same techniques all around the world.

Be humble; get local. Launch international markets by taking a grassroots approach.

The key to successful international (and cost-efficient) expansion is reinventing your brand and product for each unique culture and market you enter. This is done through engaging with the local community and really getting to know it. It boils down to flexibility and focusing on the details.

Tell stories. A powerful brand is more than just a useful product.

“I like it when people tell us stories about how HootSuite has impacted their livelihood and their success….what the tool actually did for them. That’s what’s exciting to me.” – Dave Olson, VP Community

Building a successful brand isn’t just about ROI; it’s also about building authentic relationships with people. The key to this is to really listen. Even if it’s one enthusiastic fan in Iceland or Siberia standing outside the crowd (This really happens!) who reaches out to us via a tweet or Facebook update, we need to pay attention and engage or respond accordingly. Everybody counts.

Enjoy the ride. Drink the Kool Aid. Eat the company dog food.

People get excited about social media because all of a sudden they can get more customers for their shop. Or raise money for the causes they care about most. Or make more friends, learn about other cultures…the list goes on. Our tool can facilitate dreams, and dreams aren’t just about destinations—the journeys along the way are just as important. People want to volunteer for our company because they believe in this, and we’re ecstatic to have them along for the ride.